EPDM failure causes anaerobic digester explosion

The chances of an anaerobic digester exploding are slim to none. But that’s exactly what happened at Tim Bielenberg’s Oak Lea Farm in Aumsville, Ore. “I don’t think you could ever make it happen again,” says Alan Tank, founder and CEO of Revolution Energy Solutions (RES), the company that owns and operates the digester. “We know what component failed, but we don’t know exactly what the ignition source was. What we believe it to have been was static electricity.” RES worked with Bielenberg over the past two years to commission the low-temperature anaerobic digester that processes up to 30,000 gallons of